terestedly pious; a work which from the first verse to the last, is a blaze of religious and poetical fire. The whole passage appears to me so curious, that I make no apology for giving you a faithful translation of it:- There is a strong propensity, which dances through every atom, and attracts the minutest particle to some peculiar object; search this universe from its base to its summit, from fire to air, from water to earth, from all below the moon, to all above the celestial spheres, and thou wilt not find a corpuscle destitute of that natural attractibility; the very point of the first thread, in this apparently tangled skein, is no other than such a principle of attraction, and all principles beside are void of a real basis; from such a propensity arises every motion perceived in heavenly, or in terrestrial bodies; it is a disposition to be attracted, which taught hard steel to rush from its place and rivet itself on the magnet; it is the same disposition, which impels the light straw to attach itself firmly on amber; it is this quality, which gives every sub

stance in nature a tendency toward another, and an inclination forcibly directed to a determined point.' These notions are vague, indeed, and unsatisfactory; but permit me to ask, whether the last paragraph of Newton's incomparable work goes much farther, and whether any subsequent experiments have thrown light on a subject so abstruse and obscure."

In an article entitled, On the Literature of the Hindus, translated from the Sanscrit by Sir William Jones, to whom it was communicated by Goverdhan Caul,* it is said: "There are eighteen Vidyas, or parts of true knowledge, and some branches of knowledge falsely so called; of both which a short account shall here be exhibited.

The first four are the immortal Vedas, evidently revealed by God; which are entitled, in one compound word, Rigyajuhsamat'harva, or, in separate words, Rich, Yajush, Saman, and Atharvan: the Rigveda consists of five sections; the Yajur

* See Works of Sir Wm. Jones, 8vo. vol. iv. p. 93.

veda, of eighty-six; the Samaveda, of a thousand; and the Atharvaveda, of nine; with eleven hundred s'ac'ha's, or branches, in various divisions and subdivisions. The Vedas in truth are infinite; but were reduced by Vyasa, to this number and order: the principal part of them is that, which explains the duties of man in a methodical arrangement; and in the fourth, is a system of divine ordinances.

From these are deduced the four Upavedas, namely, Ayush, Gandharva, Dhanush, and Sthapatya; the first of which, or Ayurveda, was delivered to mankind by Brahma, Indra, Dhanwantari, and five other deities; and comprises the theory of disorders and medicines, with the practical methods of curing diseases. The second, or music, was invented and explained by Bharata: it is chiefly useful in raising the mind by devotion, to the felicity of the divine nature. The third Upaveda, was composed by Viswamitra, on the fabrication and use of arms and implements

handled in war, by the tribe of Cshatriyas.* Viswacarman revealed the fourth, in various treatises on sixty-four mechanical arts, for the improvement of such as exercise them.

Six Angas, or bodies of learning, are also derived from the same source: their names are, Sicsha, Calpa, Vyacarana, Ch'handas, Jyotish, and Niructi. The first was written by Panini, an inspired saint, on the pronunciation of vocal sounds; the second, contains a detail of religious acts and ceremonies from the first to the last; and from the branches of these works a variety of rules have been framed by Aswalayana, and others: the third, or the grammar, entitled Paniniya, consisting of eight lectures, or chapters, was the production of three Rishis, or holy-men, and teaches the proper discriminations of words in construction; but other less abstruse grammars, compiled merely for popular use, are not consi

* Military cast.

dered as Angas: the fourth, or Prosody, was taught by a Muni, named Pingala, and treats of charms and incantations in verses aptly framed and variously measured; such as the Gayatri, and a thousand others. Astronomy is the fifth of the Vedangas, as it was delivered by Surya, and other divine persons: it is necessary in calculations of time. The sixth, or Niructi, was composed by Yasca,* on the signification of difficult words and phrases in the Vedas.

"Lastly, there are four Upangas, called Purana, Nyaya, Mimansa, and Dherma sastra. Eighteen Puranas, that of Brahma, and the rest, were composed by Vyasa for the instruction and entertainment of mankind in general. Nyaya is derived from the root ni, to acquire, or apprehend; and, in this sense, the books on apprehension, reasoning, and judgment, are called Nyaya: the principal of these are the work of Gautama, in five chapters, and that of Ca

* "So is the manuscript; but perhaps it should be Vyasa."